"Picky Details" for the Sony DSC-S60 digital camera
(Timing, Power, and Storage Info)

Timing

When you press the shutter release on a camera, there's usually a lag time or delay before the shutter actually fires. This corresponds to the time required for the autofocus and autoexposure mechanisms time to do their work, and can amount to a fairly long delay in some situations. Since this number is rarely reported on (and even more rarely reported accurately), and can significantly affect the picture taking experience, I routinely measure both shutter delay and shot to shot cycle times for all cameras I test, using a test system I designed and built for the purpose. (Crystal-controlled, with a resolution of 0.001 second.) Here are the numbers I collected for the Sony DSC-S60:

Power

Very good battery life, but a finicky taste in NiMH batteries. The Sony DSC-S60 uses a two AA batteries for power, and ordinary alkaline batteries are included with the camera. (Definitely plan on purchasing a couple of sets of good-quality NiMH batteries and a good charger along with the camera. Read my NiMH battery shootout page to see which batteries currently on the market are the best, and see my review of the Maha C-204W NiMH battery charger, my current favorite. Unfortunately, the camera uses a "dummy battery" AC adapter (rather than a standard external power connector), so I couldn't conduct my usual direct measurements of power consumption. For what it's worth though, when running from the Sony-branded 2100 mAh NiMH cells, Sony claims that the S60 will run for as much as 220 minutes in capture mode with the LCD display turned on, capturing up to 440 full-resolution images. If true (and I have no reason to disbelieve it), the DSC-S60's battery life is very good, particularly for a camera powered by only two AA cells. IMPORTANT NOTE: While it showed excellent battery life with Sony-branded NiMH batteries, we found that the DSC-S60 was very finicky about the quality of the cells used with it. A number of well-rated NiMH cells we had here in the studio just wouldn't power it at all, or produced very short run times. Sony's cells appear to be manufactured by Sanyo, so I imagine that other Sanyo-sourced NiMH cells (here in the US, that would be Kodak and Energizer brands) would also work well. The safest bet though, would be to use Sony-branded NiMH batteries with the S60.

Storage Capacity

The Sony DSC-S60 stores its photos on Memory Stick memory cards or in approximately 32 MB of internal memory, and no card is included with the camera. (I strongly recommend buying at least a 64 MB card, preferably a 128 MB one, to give yourself extra space for extended outings.) The chart below shows how many images can be stored in the internal memory at each size/quality setting.